An influx of luxury stores is driving out local businesses in the Marais, the historic Jewish and L.G.B.T. center of Paris. Among the casualties is a minimart, run for more than 35 years by two Moroccan brothers.

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Les Mots à La Bouche’s move from the Marais shows loss of cultural heritage, activists say In the window of France’s best-known gay bookshop, above the display of Lucian Freud art books, opera singer Maria Callas’s memoirs and a history of the Pride movement, a poster warns in giant red letters: “Cultural heritage in danger.” An urgent note on the door adds: “We need your help!”Les Mots à La Bouche, a 40-year-old Paris institution, is the top LGBT bookshop in France and considered one of the best in the world – a focal point of Paris’s historic gay neighbourhood in the Marais district. But as property speculation in central Paris reaches dizzying heights – it is estimated that at certain times of year there are more Airbnb rentals than residents in the Marais – the bookshop is being forced out by rising rents. Continue reading...